Sundance Diary: Ice Loves Coco Loves Sundance and 9 Other Random Fest Highlights

As Sundance 2012 passed the halfway point, the celebs and hangers-on and people watchers started filtering out of Park City, leaving the sidewalks actually walkable and the shuttles downright spacious. I prepare to go home tomorrow, with many more interviews and reports to come, but the glorious peacefulness has me misty-eyed about the week that was; here's a quick rundown of highlights from the first week of the fest -- the movies I loved, the events that transpired, and yes, the time I met with Ice-T and Coco to talk hip-hop while they munched on pancakes.

Select highlights, in no particular order:

- Ice-T and Coco (above): I spotted her, badonk-first, at the premiere for Ice-T's The Art of Rap: Something from Nothing. The next day we met over breakfast -- theirs, not mine -- and I chatted with Ice about his directorial debut.

- On Air: Joined indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez on his fest radio show, The Daily Buzz, broadcast live from Park City's NPR affiliate KPCW, which is conveniently located directly above the nearest state liquor store. Just sayin'...

- V/H/S: As if the horror anthology itself wasn't great enough, the poster for V/H/S was simple and clever enough. Plus, it probably cost about $.35 to make.

- Anthony Mackie and His Eyelashes Ride the Shuttle: Who knows why, but I looked over and caught the Hurt Locker star riding the shuttle to Eccles one day. With us normies!

- Napoleon Sigh-namite: Meanwhile, one day on Main St. I watched as a mob of autograph seekers followed Jon Heder as he strode uptown, clamoring the whole time, "Hey, it's Napoleon Dynamite!" Poor Jon Heder.

- Drop Drop Dat... Uncle Luke of 2 Live Crew stars in a short film in competition (Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke) which is one of the most fun and fresh (to def, even) films I saw here. Plus, who can resist a man who has his own whoopee cushion? (Image via @BorschtCorp)

- Group Cry: That moment during The Surrogate when I could hear the entire theater quietly crying, a symphony of sob sniffles all moved to the core in the same single moment...

- Leave the Favorite: That moment during Stephen Frears' Lay the Favorite when a dozen people around me walked out and I daydreamed that they'd taken me with them...

- Spike + Mic: That moment in the Red Hook Summer Q&A when Spike Lee shut down a woman who was less than pleased with his film's ending: "Miss, Miss, Miss... it's early in the morning, let's not start."

- And Last But Not Least...: Karaoke. Obviously!

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